The Courts
Which general district court hears a traffic charge in Fairfax, Arlington, Prince William or Alexandria, and what that court does with it.
4 guides
Virginia has no court called "traffic court." Under § 16.1-123.1 of the Code of Virginia the general district court of the city or county where the offense happened has exclusive original jurisdiction over every traffic infraction and misdemeanor arising there — so "Fairfax traffic court" means the Fairfax County General District Court, and "Arlington traffic court" means the Arlington General District Court. Those courts each run a traffic docket, and that docket is what people are looking for.
Two things move a case somewhere else. A driver under 18 goes to the juvenile and domestic relations district court instead (§ 16.1-241). And a district court is not a court of record (§ 16.1-69.5), so an appeal does not review what the first judge did: § 16.1-136 gives the circuit court a completely new trial, as if the first one had never happened.
Each page below names the court, says which localities it covers, explains what happens on a traffic docket there, and gives the courthouse address, office hours and division telephone numbers as the court or its locality publishes them, with the date they were checked. Those details change without notice, so each page also links to the court's own page, which carries the payment arrangements too.
All guides
- Fairfax County, VA Traffic Court: The General District Court
Fairfax County VA traffic court is the General District Court: what it hears, what it costs, how to ask for a continuance and how a 10-day appeal works.
- Manassas General District Court and the Prince William Docket
The general district court in Manassas VA is the Prince William court: which three localities it covers, what its traffic docket does and what a case costs.
- The General District Court, Arlington VA: How a Ticket Is Heard
The general district court in Arlington VA hears every traffic charge written in the county: what it does with one, what it costs and how appeals work.
- Alexandria, VA General District Court and Its Traffic Docket
The Alexandria VA General District Court hears every traffic charge written in the city — a city that sits in no county at all. What a case there costs.